“11 Ways the Integration Business Will Change This Decade” is a wide-ranging analysis by NSCA board members of the future of integration, originally published in the special Pivot to Profit+ section of the Q3 2021 edition of our quarterly trade journal, Integrate. This column discusses the importance of making schools safer.
NSCA members are well positioned to drive decisions when it comes to systematic approaches to school security.
K-12 schools in the United States used to be the safest places in our communities. Sadly, that’s not the case today. It’s quite likely that, by taking no action on the way we design and equip our buildings, the trend will only get worse. For that reason, PASS K-12 (the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools) was formed.
A fundamental principle of PASS leadership is to recognize that our nation’s teachers are educators and not technology experts. Their jobs are hard enough, and, for that reason, we provide resources that serve as a guideline for them to follow.
Administrators who are often constrained by funding are now faced with the challenge of safety resource officers being removed from their buildings. They also grapple with using advanced technology to identify people coming and going and constant concerns from parents regarding drills and lockdown procedures. Establishing policies and procedures alone is a divisive and daunting process.
Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, facial recognition, prohibited item detection, video and voice analytics, visitor management, location detection, intelligent access control, mobile notifications, and lockdowns, will become the norm for schools of the future. Safety and security technology standards will likely follow the path of fire alarm systems: no building can be occupied without them. No student has died from a fire in a U.S. school in over 50 years. Standards-based technology works!
What doesn’t work are random approaches to deployment of school security and life safety technology. Without systematic sequencing of what happens first, and without standards and guidelines, it’s hard to develop the best course of action and the most effective use of available funds.
By creating a universally accepted guideline based on tiers and layers, you can deploy solutions that make logical sense and ultimately end up with an integrated approach.
Our industry is mission critical. The NSCA community plays a huge role in making schools safer. Meanwhile, school projects are bigger than they’ve ever been. Multi-million-dollar K-12 projects are increasingly common.
Qualified integrators that leverage the PASS K-12 program are well positioned to play consultative roles on these projects. They are the ones who can integrate these solutions. They are the ones who can become trusted advisors and bring the PASS guidelines in as they work with local school districts. They are the ones who can do the heavy lifting so teachers can teach and administrators can focus on student achievement. They are the ones who can build out these systems to improve the odds that no parent loses a child to senseless acts of violence.
For that to happen, integrators must embrace the idea that they are solutions providers and trusted advisors. You must become as knowledgeable about policies and procedures as you are about intercoms and cameras.
In many cases, you have to stand back and allow schools to invest in systems you don’t sell until the time is right for your solutions to become implemented. During that time, you need to be alongside those administrators, guiding them through the myriad codes, laws, regulations, and compliance issues that you are trained to deal with.
I believe NSCA members are the best of the best when it comes to the future of school security and making schools safer. Commitment to a code of ethics sets you apart. Commitment to the PASS guidelines, risk assessments, and toolkits gives you the credibility and professionalism that makes you the preferred choice to protect our nation’s most precious resource.
Chuck Wilson is CEO of NSCA and cofounder of the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS K-12).